Alita: The Fall of Zalem
by Electro-Man
Summary: Set after the events of Alita: Battle Angel, Nova resorts to using an ancient enemy known to mankind as the Horde. While Nova desires to have the Orcs under his control, the Orc Shaman Ner'zhul has some other plans altogether. Help arrives from the remnants of the old Alliance of Lordaeron as they join forces to reveal more secrets while defeating Nova and freeing Iron City.
1. Draenor, The Red World (Orc POV)

Ever since the Horde's attempts in invading Azeroth failed millenia ago, the Orcish clans were no longer united and they kept on fighting among themselves. The land reeked of Fel Magic and Corruption since the days of the first Warlocks. With the clans dying out due to infighting and what not, the new millenium of Orcs searched for the beacon of light who once guided them through the dark times : the Elder Shaman Ner'zhul.

A small dot amidst the blood red skies was the old shaman's hut, nestled atop the hills overlooking the Shadowmoon Lands, a pocket of land occupied by the Shadowmoon Clan. He kept himself in hiding for his own deception led his former apprentice Gul'dan to lead the Orcs down the dark paths that led Draenor to a state of ruin. He was at peace in seclusion but that was to change for he fell into a trance as he meditated and everything around him turned snow white.

The shaman stood there, vigilant and curious. He could see a human equipped with some high-tech gadgets and a stone embedded on his forehead. Ner'zhul poised himself in an attempt to strike him but that's when the human spoke: "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Ner'zhul: "Who are you? Another one of Kil'jaeden's minions?"

"I am not who you think you are. I am Nova, the Overlord of Zalem and I am in dire need of you and your kind."

"You? You need me? How pathetic of you to say that when millenia ago, your ancestors were the ones that thwarted the Horde from invading Azeroth!"

"I know, but they were not my ancestors exactly. You see, the world has changed over the years. Humans alone don't live on this planet, which you have known by the name Azeroth."

He resumed after a brief pause, "This land crawls with machine bodied beings with human minds. Now, one of them has threatened to destroy my regime and ..."

Ner'zhul couldn't contain his laughter and he bellowed, "So, you expect me to believe your lies? Do you think I'll send my legion to win your wars when we're dying out and have no place to survive?"

"I'm not asking." and the shaman noticed that the stone embedded on Nova's forehead began to glow brightly. A searing pain tore through Ner'zhul's body as the Technocrat held the shaman under his torturous grip!

"You have the power of the Elven Runestone! But how?" Ner'zhul shrieked.

"That's none of your concern. If you won't send your legion, you're missing an opportunity to redeem your kind!"

Ner'zhul, furious from this assault now used his shamanistic powers to turn the tides of the battle. The Technocrat now struggled to hold his own even as the shaman forced the unearthly elements to bend to his will. "Say that again!"

Nova: "Yes, the Orcs will be allowed to live on whatever is left of Iron City. If you send your legion to destroy those human minded machines, you can settle down on whatever that's left of them."

"The last time the Horde ventured out to your world, they were brutally decimated by the Alliance. How is it going to be any different this time?"

"The Alliance as you know it does not exist anymore. Besides, I'll equip your troops with the latest human weapons so that you can fight your enemies with them."

The idea was somewhat convincing, yet the old shaman had his doubts. Before he could do anything further, a cold icy voice spoke to him: "Master?"

That awoke Ner'zhul to his senses. It was Teron Gorefiend, the first of the Death Knights.

"After all these years, you were hiding in plain sight!"

"What do you want?"

"I have a plan that can save the Orcs. I can tell you only if you're willing to become our warchief.""

"What kind of a plan is it?"

"We must go looking out for other worlds, worlds that won't have beings resilient to our invasion."

"And how do you plan on doing this?"

"We need a few artifacts from the human world to build portals to other worlds."

"What! Why must we set foot on that world again. We've lost enough already and ..."

"Master, the humans would have changed by now. If we reopen the Dark Portal once again and send our forces through it, they will surely be taken by surprise."

"How do you know about this?"

"When the dark portal was destroyed, the rift between Draenor and Azeroth still remained. That's why I've been getting news about human developments. How they severed their ties with Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes. How they turned away from magic and to something loathsome as "science". How they've built more powerful weapons so that they don't have to use swords anymore. If we could get a hand on these human weapons, we can turn the battle to our favour!"

Ner'zhul paused for a while. He was in a deep thought. Nova's and Teron's words rang through his head and he couldn't think of anything else other than that. Then it struck him!

Ner'zhul: "Did you just say that there was a rift? All these years?"

Teron: "Yes master. It is an unstable one but if we try, we can reopen the Dark Portal once again. We need Gul'dan's skull to get started."

"And where shall we find the remains of my treacherous apprentice?"

"Hurrikan Skullsplinter, the chieftain of the Bonechewer clan wears it like a mask, not knowing the true power hidden in this relic!"

Ner'zhul paused for a while. Immediately, he fell into a trance again with the technocrat standing before him.

Nova: "So, do we have an agreement?"

"Why yes of course, the enemy of my enemy is truly my friend!" for he thought _"Atleast, I'll get the artifacts that I need and I don't have any dealings with him henceforth!"_

Coming back to his senses, Ner'zhul summoned Teron Gorefiend to muster his crew of Death Knights and take away Gul'dan's Skull from the Orc Chieftain. As a matter of fact, they found Grom Hellscream, Chieftain of the Warsong Clan imprisoned by the Bonechewers.

"Yeaaaah!" Exclaimed the chieftain relishing the freedom that was restored to him.

"Greetings ..." retorted Teron in an icy whisper. "Now that we've freed you from your captors, help us defeat them."

Grom motioned to another encampment where Kargath Bladefist, chieftain of the Shattered Hand Clan was held captive by Bonechewer's allies, the Thunderlord clan. They joined forces and freed a few grunts and troll berserkers, after which, they lay waste to the surrounding settlements of the Bonechewer and the Thunderlord clans that were not willing to comply with Ner'zhul's commands

"For Ner'zhul!" and a commotion arose where they noticed a band of bloodthirsty ogres led by Dentarg also joined in their fray. Now this forced the Bonechewer chieftain Hurrikan Skullsplinter to come forward.

Dentarg : "Are you opposing Shadowmoon? Ner'zhul will have your head!"

"Fine !" retorted the chieftain, "then take whatever you want, my troops are all yours and so is this!" he unmasked himself and handed over the Skull of Gul'dan over to Teron.

The newly forged Horde now went back to Ner'zhul's hut. The shaman was pleased. He held the skull of his former apprentice and in a light whisper it spoke back to him: "A new benefactor is it? First, it was Medivh and now, it is Nova!"

Ner'zhul however took no heed of his words. He was surprised that even after death, Gul'dan's powers did not diminish at all! _"Yes, this is it!"_ he thought and he led the Horde to the barren lands of the Hellfire Peninsula, the place where the ruins of the Dark Portal lay. On his way to the citadel, he gathered followers from the neighbouring clans of Warsong and Shattered Hand and then, he used his shamanistic powers to rebuild the portal from its ruined state.

A legion of Death Knights led by Teron began to pronounce incantations as the crimson red skies above turned darker and darker. A few moments later, Nova contacted Ner'zhul telepathically: "We're ready! Open the portal now!"

At this, the shaman lifted Gul'dan's Skull and the eye sockets began to glow brightly. It fired a brilliant red beam and soon, the gateway which looked like an open window, now showed something like a black screen. The Horde screamed as they charged through the dark portal, towards what seemed to be a bright future ahead.


	2. The Resistance (Human POV)

Ever since Alita rose to popularity as a Motorball Champion, Iron City hasn't been the same. People looked at her as their Saviour who would one day, redeem their land from the clutches of the technocratic titan who was ruling them all. Nova's goons began to fear her for she, in utter defiance of the rules of the factory used guns in broad daylight. As her prowress in fighting Nova's thugs increased tremendously, she rallied a group of defiant Hunter-Warriors to take down this ruthless Technocrat. Besides, by this time, her memories were restored and she knew of her previous life, the logic behind her being called number 99, the events of the fall and her apparent demise at the hands of Nova himself.

First things first, they lay waste to the factory. They faced a huge resistance from the Machine Gun wielding drones and tanks. One of them lobbed grenades which reduced those armoured vehicles to smithereens! This liberated the Hunter-Warriors to take up arms against their oppressors and goons alike and this bugged Nova a lot. Soon, Alita and her allies found out about a secret passageway to Zalem and they snuck into the floating city made entirely of metal. Not exactly floating for it was held up in the air by strong metallic tubes that were designed for carrying transport ships, ships to send supplies to Zalem.

Before going any further, she paid a visit to the graveyard. She spent a few minutes by Hugo's grave, swearing that she'll avenge his death. For her, this mission was important as Nova murdered her boyfriend Hugo when he tried to climb the metallic tubes to go to Zalem

As Nova began to experiment on teleportation technology, he stumbled upon a world with blood red skies and creatures with demonic blood-lust. _"With a little upgrade"_ he thought _"These creatures could be exactly what I want to quell this uprising"_ and so, he made contact with their leader, the Orc shaman Ner'zhul.

While these developments were going on, Alita and her allies broke through the defenses of the floating city of Zalem. They fought with the robotic drones and cyborgs that were headed their way.

"There's the citadel!" and the Resistance member pointed at the towering building from which intense flashes of light started to emerge.

"Nova!", then Alita held on to her sword and stabbed one of the drones that was guarding the citadel. "This one's for Hugo!"

Alita and her allies stormed into Nova's citadel. Breaking through the intense gunfire coming from all sides, they made their way to the power core that gave power to the entire city. Shutting down the core also shut off the defenses of the city.

This didn't stop Nova's plans. He turned on the backup power supply to his laboratory. Alita and her allies barged in, only to see Nova teleport from that location.

"Huh, where did he go?"

"He must have surrendered"

Just then, a vision flashed in Alita's mind: "He's evil incarnate, he never surrenders!"

Their discussions were soon interrupted by a blinding flash of light as the ground beneath them rumbled. When the light faded, the Resistance members looked out of the window to witness the shocking truth:

A few blocks away from the outskirts of Iron City, where once was an old ruined keep, a huge portal now stood there. Worse yet was that a huge number of cybernetically advanced creatures poured out of this portal and they could see Nova at the centre of it all.


	3. The Burning of Iron City (Orc POV)

Ner'zhul and his armada were awestruck as they looked at the floating city of Zalem. They saw the ruins of a keep, just a few blocks away from the land they used to call the Black Morass. The land that lay before them didn't look any different from their homeworld.

"Master? Is this the world we are to conquer?"

Ner'zhul: "No my children. This conquest is only necessary to conquer more worlds."

Just then, a group of cybernetically enhanced Orcs came and exchanged their greetings with the old shaman, after which, he came face to face with their benefactor Nova himself. Ner'zhul recognised these orcs to be the remnants of the Bleeding Hollow Clan which was left behind when the Dark Portal was destroyed millenia ago. _"So, it was the unstable rift that helped them send news to us after all"_ the old shaman thought.

Ner'zhul looked at the technological improvements in this new legion of orcs. The Grunts now had a metal arm and something like a hoverboard to let them move as fast as the Ogres, now wielding massive battering rams in their hands. All it takes is a couple of punches to reduce a skyscraper to dust and ashes.

Ner'zhul : "So these are the upgraded orcs aren't they?"

Nova : "It will take some time for me to mass produce these improvements for the entire army. Those Resistance members have taken control over Zalem and I escaped the citadel."

"That won't be necessary" and Ner'zhul pronounced an incantation. Using his shamanistic powers, he transformed his armada into a group of cybernetically advanced orcs, all but the Death Knights whose necromantic magic alone rendered them invincible!

Ner'zhul : "So, who are those foolish humans who have threatened your regime?"

Nova showed him a picture of Alita and her allies and this left one of the orcs confused. "Is she a descendant of the Windrunners?"

Nova : "The Elves and all other creatures you know of don't exist anymore."

"No wonder this battle calls for vengeance, vengeance of our slain brethren!" Exclaimed an orc and this drove the Horde in a state of frenzy! They marched out in large numbers while Ner'zhul secretly called for Teron.

"This fool promises us for a land to conquer but we know that we're not here for that."

"What is it that you want Master?"

"Find me the artifacts. Get me the Book of Medivh. We need to know how the Portal was formed in the first place."

"As you wish my master."

...

"Intruuuuude!" exclaimed the Orc Chief Kargath Bladefist as the catapults launched grenades at the unsuspecting gathering of Hunter-Warriors. The Grunts along with the Troll Axegunners, an upgraded version of the Troll Berserkers who could now wield axe-throwing guns, pounced upon the northern settlements of Iron City.

The Ogres led by Dentarg launched a massive assault on the base of operations of the Hunter-Warriors, forcing some of them to stay back and fight while those who were left joined Dr. Dyson Ido. Regrouping with these Resistance members, they fled Iron City while the Orcs, now in large numbers began to destroy some of the human settlements and rebuilding Orcish settlements in their place.

Meanwhile, the Death Knights led by Teron Gorefiend teleported into Zalem. At first, Alita and her allies seemed to gain an upper hand as they got easily wounded but turns out ... to their horror, their wounds healed almost instantly. No matter what they did, they couldn't be killed.

The Death Knights struck back at them with powerful necromantic spell. Using death coils, they directed an arc of intense energy, killing the opponent in one or two shots. Worse yet, they reanimated their deceased comrades into gun wielding skeletons!

"What are these things?" a Resistance member cursed "They don't die to our weapons !"

"Creatures of the undead, why do I feel I'm living my horror movie nightmare !" another said as they evaded the spells of these undead warriors.

Soon, they reached a place that looked like a spaceport. Alita led her companions to it while holding back the incoming skeletal remains of their former comrades.

"Anyone knows how to fly this thing?" asked one of the Resistance members.

Alita : "Yes I do!" and she jumped into the cockpit. She pressed on a few buttons and the ship began to take off.

Just then, she received a transmission : "Alita, this is Dyson Ido. I don't know if you're still here but ..."

She couldn't contain her happiness : "Ido, you're still alive!"

"There's not much time. These creatures have come out of nowhere and have taken us by surprise."

"Lets regroup outside Iron City. I'm headed to the South Falls and ..." just then, a Death Knight cast a whirlwind that damaged their escape pod.

"Great! Now this calls for an emergency landing!"

"Alita!" cried out Ido but she didn't respond as she put her entire focus on getting a smooth landing.


	4. Alita and the Elves (Human POV)

The escape pod crash landed on a thick forest on the outskirts of Iron City. It was of no use however, the Orcs had come down upon them in large numbers and have taken over everything. The Death Knights, even more dangerous as no weapon could be used against them while their powerful necromantic spells left their foes in a state of eternal undeath!

Alita and her companions exited the pod, to regroup with other resistance members, led by Dr. Dyson Ido and a few Hunter-Warriors who survived the early wave of the Orcish Onslaught. They camped in a small open ground which was close to an Orc Outpost that had cropped up recently.

Ido: "So, what now?"

Alita: "We keep fighting, we don't give up. We figure out who are these creatures, who sent them here and what do they want."

She and her companions gathered all the refugees who had escaped Iron City and formed a small encampment. Although small in number, they were able to defend themselves from the occasional raiding parties that were sent by nearby Orcish Outposts. But one fine day, they began to face a supply crunch.

"This must be Nova's doing. He knew of his impending doom and somehow, he must have managed to summon these creatures to our world."

"Okay, but we gotta find a place to hide and someplace fast. We're running low on ammo and supplies."

Just then, a raiding party of goblins could be seen running towards one of the Orcish Outposts.

"You gotta be kidding me! We are nearly out of supplies and ..."

"There's no hope for us. Besides, we're gonna die anyway so maybe its worth a shot."

Ido : "Alita, I'll stay back and defend the refugees. You go and see if you can do something."

...

Alita and her companions fought their way through the barricades and stormed into the stronghold of the Shadowmoon Orcs. The troll axegunners started shooting axes at them, to which one of the resistance members threw a grenade in their direction, obliterating them.

She then came face to face with a two headed Ogre who seemed to be in charge of this place. His eyes flashed a brilliant red with demon blood pumping in his veins. Using her fighting style, Alita held her own against the giant creature before stabbing him to death. The ground trembled as the body of the deceased leader of the stronghold fell to the ground, leaving the orcs in a state of horror. Those who remained were shot down by the resistance members while the others fled immediately!

Their success however was short lived. The air turned cold and everything became eerily dark. The worst fears of the resistance members came true as they came face to face with a raiding party of undead skeletons led by a Death Knight.

The Death Knight raised his wand and conjured a spell that sent a whirlwind in their direction. This blew away all the ammunition that they had.

"There goes our last cache of supplies."

The undead warrior left an icy grin as he motioned his skeletal minions to lay waste on his foes. They charged towards the resistance members, tearing some of them apart while the rest took to their heels. Just then something like a dart brushed past Alita's ears and broke the skeleton that was about to pounce on her friend.

Alita turned towards the direction from whence the arrow came and saw a creature that looked somewhat like her but with long weird looking ears and armed with a high-tech crossbow. More of these creatures came and started attacking these skeletons. This infuriated the Death Knight.

"_Avada Kedavra_" and the undead warrior sent a death coil, killing one of the resistance members. This drove Alita, insanely angry and she went and fought against the Death Knight. Although she seemed to be evenly matched, her attacks would only wound him but not kill him because his wounds healed almost instantly. Soon the Death Knight cornered her.

Alita would not go down without a fight. She lunged towards her while the Death Knight conjured another death coil and tried to hurl it in her direction. Just then someone jumped in and pushed her out of harm's way. Alita gasped as she saw a man in a suit of velvet armour and a golden cape, holding a golden glaive in his right hand. This man fought with the Knight who now used his wand as a sword. Although he was quite resilient, the man with the glaive managed to overpower him.

The Death Knight conjured another death coil which the man simply deflected using his glaive. The undead warrior smiled and spoke in an icy tone: "You do realise that you can't kill me with these puny weapons of yours!"

"I know," said the man and then he poised himself, holding his glaive, ready to strike again "But this will: _Exorcium!_" and a brilliant flash of light burst from the tip of the glaive. As soon as it hit the undead creature, he shriveled and groaned in deep pain as his body withered completely, leaving no trace of it! By that time, those mysterious creatures armed with crossbows destroyed all the skeletons and knelt before the deceased member of the Resistance, paying their respects to the martyr.

This turn of events left Alita and her companions shocked. Out of nowhere did they come and the best part in all this is that one of them knows how to kill a Death Knight!

Those mysterious creatures rose up, only to be surrounded by the gun-wielding members of the resistance. That's when the man spoke up

"No mortal weapon can ever prevail over these creatures of darkness. Only the true light has the power to vanquish them." he turned to Alita who looked somewhat confused. "All of this does sound new or like fairy tales to you all but trust me. This is all but knowledge stowed away for millenia."

Alita: "Really? Then explain yourself!"

"You must be Alita, the Battle Angel? I've heard a lot about you and guess what, there's more to you than what you even know of yourself! As for me, I am Immanuel Volt-Ampere, keeper of the Eternal Watch. I am a descendant of the great archwizard Khadgar."

"And who are they, friends of yours?"

One of those creatures spoke up: "We are the Elves of Silvermoon and we've come to serve."

Immanuel: "There's a whole lotta history lessons you gotta catch up with but not over here. It is better if you guys followed us to our keep. You guys could stock up on supplies and bury your dead comrades."

"Unbelieveble! You guys have supplies too?" and the wizard pulled out an AK-47 while the Elves held their high-tech crossbows. "We did change with the times. You'll see!"

...


	5. History Lessons (Human POV)

After burying their deceased comrade, Alita and her companions followed the wizard and his company of the Elves. They entered an underground dungeon in the ruins of a small keep, just a few blocks away from the Orc Outpost that was attacked.

Alita : "So how did you find us?"

Immanuel : "I sensed dark powers developing around the Black Morass. That's when we set out to investigate the matter and the findings were quite disturbing indeed."

An elf chimed in: "So we decided that we join forces with the Resistance who were battling the Orcs too.

The wizard noticed that their words went all bouncers for them. Sensing their need, he began to explain. He placed a small globe on the floor which began to project images as he spoke

"Not many know about this, but this ain't the first time the Orcs have invaded our planet. In fact, it took place millenia ago when the Guardian Medivh, under the corruption of the fallen Titan Sargeras opened the Dark Portal, a gateway connecting Draenor, the homeworld of the Orcs with the human settlement of Iron City which was back then, known as Stormwind. Upon opening this gateway, the Orcs laid waste to the surrounding kingdoms of that time until the most powerful of them remained.

Those who survived the onslaught fled to the shores of Lordaeron. It was the most powerful of all human settlements and the King of Lordaeron, recognising the gravity of the threat forged an alliance of nations under the leadership of Anduin Lothar, the Lion of Azeroth. He enlisted the assistance of the Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes to repel the Horde from human settlements.

A fierce battle ensued on many fronts in land, air and water. It lasted for over six years and the greatest clash was the one when Lord Lothar battled the Orcish Chieftain Orgrim Doomhammer. Unfortunately, the Orc war chief killed the Lion of Azeroth, hoping that it would instill fear into the minds of the Alliance forces. Instead the Paladin Turalyon picked up the broken blade of Lord Lothar and led the Alliance forces with a renewed vigour. They imprisoned the war chief Doomhammer while the Orcish clans either got killed or were scattered to the wind.

It was at this point my ancestors played an important role. They followed the some of the Orcs who were fleeing all the way back to the Dark Portal. Upon reaching there, my forefather Khadgar summoned the elements of the universe to destroy the Dark Portal. After that, the Alliance parted ways even though some of us chose to stick together, in preparation for another Orcish invasion."

An elf continued : "For millenia, we've been hiding in plain sight as we watched the humans ravage the planet with wars. We learnt to use advanced weapons and improved our skills to that end."

Another one continued : "Even as we kept our existence hidden from sight, we would still hunt down the surviving Orcish Clans that were scattered and could not escape."

Yet another continued : "If it wasn't for us, the Orcs would have allied with the URM and we would have lost in the Fall, 300 years ago."

This left some of the Resistance members uneasy.

Ido : "So, you're saying that you fought against the URM and were on the side of the Imperial Earth?"

Immanuel : "Not exactly. You see, the floating city of Zalem has a lot of secrets in it."

Ido : "What kind of secrets."

The wizard continued, looking at Alita : "Rest assured that my ancestors didn't cross paths with your kind during the Fall. You see, our participation in the war was for a different reason."

An elf explained : "The ancient guardians, like Medivh were responsible for protecting our planet from the invasion of the Burning Legion, a race of demons led by Sargeras, the fallen Titan. After the war against the Orcs, Khadgar and the Mages created a mystical device called the Eye of Dalaran to focus their arcane powers."

Another one continued : "The Eye of Dalaran also serves as a mystic shield, preventing the invasions of the Burning Legion. As a matter of coincidence, this ancient relic was used as a power source to give power to the floating citadel of Zalem."

"So, you see, the Fall could have been more disastrous if Zalem was destroyed by the URM. It would have left our planet, vulnerable to an invasion from the Burning Legion. That's why, time and again, we've secretly slipped into Zalem, ensuring thaty the Eye isn't lost."

Alita : "So how have you guys managed to live after the Fall?"

"After the fall, we thrived on the lands that were rendered unfit for living because of the virus, the URM had unleashed. Using our arcane magic, we transformed these lands but kept our existence hidden from you all. Over time, refugees from other lands who could not stay in Iron City dwelt among us. Some of them joined forces and gave us new weapons as we battled mutated creatures and the Orcs who had also captured some of these lands."

Alita: "And what does this have to do with us?"

That's when an image flashed on the wall. The wizard explained to her: "You have Elven blood in your veins. Not just any ordinary elf's but that of Alleria Windrunner, the leader of the squadron of Elves who joined forces with the Alliance. After the War was over, Alleria married Turalyon and they had a son."

Another elf spoke: "Which also means that you're a carrier of the Light of the Paladins, clearly visible in your fighting style."


	6. Ner'zhul's Treason (Orc POV)

Teron and his company of Death Knights had wrested the citadel from the hands of the erstwhile Resistance. They roamed inside the citadel searching for more Resistance members while Nova along with his elite guard of cyborg warriors entered the citadel to take his position as the overlord.

As they roamed inside the citadel, Teron stumbled upon a repository containing high-tech gadgets. Out of curiosity, he sifted through the gadgets, only to set his eyes on the walls of the room. To the inhabitants of Zalem, it was but an alien language but not so with this undead warrior for he could read and observe that it was an inscription in the Shadowmoon dialect.

Teron went ahead to take a closer look at the book. The inscription directed him to put his skeletal fingers on a small corner of a wall and it slid open to reveal a secret passage carved out of stone. This was quite mysterious for him for the whole of Zalem seemed to be built entirely of metal and nothing less than that. Being used to darkness as it is, they walked down the passage until they stopped to see a large room with a brilliant beam of light at the center.

They could hear loud thumping and electrifying noises above them. That was the reactor core that supplied power to Zalem, or so it was thought. Teron's discovery showed that the thing engulfed in the light was the real power behind it all and the artifact was even more shocking to behold. It was none but the mystic Eye of Dalaran, a long lost artifact that was used by the Mages to focus their arcane powers.

_Why is Nova using the Eye of Dalaran to power Zalem?_ and he reached out to grab on to the mystical relic, only to trigger an alarm. Teron and his legion stormed out of the passage, only to be cornered by a group of cyborg warriors. Shooting plasma immobilisers, they captured Teron and some of his Death Knights who struggled to get off their restraints. They couldn't budge, let alone use their necromantic arts to free themselves.

The captives were brought to Nova who was conversing with Ner'zhul on a holographic screen.

"... I don't understand " exclaimed the shaman who had gone back to the Shadowmoon fortress in Draenor :" You're telling me that one of my Death Knights was killed!"

"and you said that no mortal weapon could prevail over them. Well look what do we have here."

Ner'zhul looked at Teron and his company of Death Knights who were held immobilised by the cyborg warriors. He was enraged:

"What have you done to them?"

"Lets just say that they snuck upon my prized posession and tried to steal it from me."

Teron struggled to speak but he mustered his strength to say : "Master, the Eye of Dalaran! It powers all of Zalem!"

Just then, a cyborg warrior stepped in : "Sir! we have the footage of the attack!" and he played it on a holographic screen for both, Nova and Ner'zhul to see. They saw how the undead warrior was exorcised by a wizard who was with a company of Elven Snipers.

Ner'zhul : "I thought you said that the Elves were no more."

Nova : "I did but I was wrong. Look, we had a deal: help me crush the Resistance and I'll reward you with a land to conquer! But this creature's actions has simply left me with no choice but to call it quits."

Ner'zhul smiled : "You think you can stand against the combined might of the Horde? You couldn't stand a chance against my powers."

"Or could I? ..." and at this stage, the runestone on his forehead flickered with a greenish glow, terrifying Ner'zhul and Teron even more.

"Fel Magic!" Teron screamed.

"I let you win so that you could send in your armies to draw out the Resistance that kept foiling my plans. Now that I know who is my real enemy, I'll deal with them with pleasure!"

"You used me!" cried out the shaman "You'll pay for that !" and Nova used the Fel powered runestone to torture Ner'zhul as well as the captives who were around him.

"Now that your armies are at my command, I'll see to it that I eliminate this wizard and his followers. Prepare to meet your end once again, Alita!"


	7. The Alliance Returns (Human POV)

The light from the rising sun lit up the ruins of the old keep where the newly forged Resistance forces had gathered up. A couple of armored tanks manned by Gnomes stood vigilant as everyone came out.

Immanuel cleared his throat and spoke with a deep voice: "Millenia ago when the Orcs invaded our world, the Alliance of Lordaeron was the only thing that stood between our world and oblivion. The time has come again to fight the Horde again. So let's renew the Alliance, putting aside all our differences and working together for a common goal: The complete decimation of the Horde forces!"

He pronounced an incantation and moments later, the weapons and the ammunition that everyone had started glowing. "By this enchantment, the Death Knights shall not remain invulnerable to your weapons."

"Where do we strike first?", just then, a goblin drone hovered above them and started taking pictures. Alita jumped in the air and sliced the drone to pieces.

"Damn, those jokers know where we are. What are we gonna do?"

The wizard closed his eyes. He opened it, now glowing in a whitish glow for a few seconds and then, his eyes were normal. "I've seen the path that we're supposed to take. We have no time to lose."

He turned his gaze to the Elven chieftain Rayona "You must secure the passes as we lay waste to the barracks on the outskirts of Iron City. Hold your ground and don't pursue the escaping Orcs."

"Yes your Eminence."

Another elf chimed in: "Time is of the essence, lets move out!"

Just then, another voice shouted : "Dwarves ready!" Alita and her allies looked at those heavily armoured small creatures who looked like humans holding rocket launchers on one hand.

"Now these are the Dwarves of the erstwhile Khaz Modan." spoke the wizard. Looking at the Dwarves, he motioned them to take out the Guard Towers and the Cannon Towers that the Orcs had built on the outskirts of Iron City.

Alita : "We should give these guys some protection. They won't stand a chance against the mighty Orcs."

"That's why we shall follow them. Lets get going!" and the squadron of Resistance and the Alliance members marched towards Iron City.

The Dwarves started firing missiles which destroyed the towers guarding the barracks. This triggered the nearby orcs to attack them.

"Lets go!" and they broke formation as they broke through the remaining defenses and entered Iron City. Alita and the wizard teamed up and cleared out the alleys to the former base of operations of the Hunter-Warriors which was now converted into an Orcish Fortress.

A group of Warsong Grunts and Troll Axegunners led by Grom Hellscream cornered the wizard and Alita. "Don't think just because you're a lady I'll go easy on you!" mocked the war-chief.

Alita : "We'll see about that!" and using Panzer Kunst, she, obliterated those unprepared Orcs while the wizard sparred with Kargath Bladefist. An intense battle followed with Alita's sword of Damascus and the wizard's glaive clashed with the Orcish weapons. In the end however, Alita chopped off Grom's head who sang in a hilarious tone "I am Iron Man!" while the wizard stabbed Kargath through his heart!

"And who says wizards aren't good at melee huh?"

Alita teased him : "Says the boy who took out one Grunt while I sliced up an entire army."

"That one Grunt was as good as an army. Speaking of which, Ogres at 10 o'clock!" and he passed on his AK-47 to Alita who went completely automatic with that weapon!

"Try this out for size boys!"

An Ogre flung his battering ram at Alita and before she could take a hit, the wizard jumped and pushed her to a side, accidentally landing on her!

"Sorry, that was not really intended of me. I mean I ..."

"Save it, although, we could use some magic now." remarked Alita.

The wizard stood facing a squadron of Ogres that had surrounded them. He swirled and twirled with his glaive, chopping off the heads of the Ogres that had surrounded them.

"Time for some magic !" and he conjured a blizzard that killed the Orcs that were headed towards them. "Looks like, I've evened up on the kill count haven't I?"

Alita : "I'm not counting."

Ido : "Can you guys quit fooling around? We've razed the Orc Fortress and have reclaimed our base once again."

"That's good news! Shouldn't we now lay a siege on the Dark Portal and send the Orcs back home?"

A Paladin who was on the spot along with a few Elven spies reported : "My liege, it will be impossible to break their defenses if we're on foot."

Ido : "And we don't have planes to help us out. All aerial transports have been destroyed in the attack."

Just then, a loud squeal was heard in the air. The Resistance and the Alliance members looked up and saw a bunch of large birds that looked like eagles, headed their way.

Alita looked at the wizard who was smiling : "Air support?"

Immanuel : "Gryphons with hammer wielding dwarven riders."

Kurdran Wildhammer was leading a squadron of Dwarves on the backs of Gryphons. With his mount Sky'ree in a distinctive orange colour scheme as opposed to the colour scheme of the other Gryphons and their riders which was white, they swooped down and lobbed fireballs from their hammers, demolishing the orcish buildings and units swiftly. Some of the Troll Axegunners were successful in shooting down the Gryphons but that annoyed the dwarven riders that were mounted on them. They fell down with a thud and began dive bombing those unsuspecting Axegunners.

More and more Orcs began to pour out of the Dark Portal. "They won't stop coming" said the wizard.

Alita : "Unless we get to Zalem and destroy Nova."

A Resistance member commented : "Bad idea! All entrances have been sealed off and are heavily guarded. There's no way we're going up!"

"Or is there ?" wondered the wizard. A few seconds later, he shouted : "Kurdran! Over here!"

"I'll fling a hammer at ya!", Kurdran and Sky'ree were on an unstoppable rampage so Alita had to fire a flare to draw his attention. "Aye !" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Kurdran! Over here!"

"Yes lad?"

"Can you hitch a ride on Sky'ree? Alita and I have to get to Zalem ASAP!"

"Yes sir!" and he directed his mount to land near us.

"Dr. Ido, I need you to clear out Iron City of the Orcs. After that, lay a siege on the Black Morass and try to push the Orcs as much as possible into the Dark Portal. We have some unfinished business at Zalem."

Ido : "What! Are you crazy! You're going back to Zalem after all that has happened?"

Alita : "Its our only chance!"

Ido : "Fine, as you insist !"


	8. The Fall of Zalem

**Human POV:**

Sky'ree flew at a breakneck speed towards the floating city of Zalem. They began to encounter a huge resistance from the defensive towers that started firing plasma bolts at them. Also, a detachment of cyborg warriors opened fire at them to which Kurdran responded with fireballs.

"Kurdran, drop Alita at the citadel. I think I can buy you guys some time." and as he said that, Immanuel dropped down and attacked the cyborg warriors that were shooting at them. He conjured a spell that sent a blizzard, damaging the surrounding buildings and killing the cyborg warriors that were headed towards them.

Alita got down at the top of the citadel, from where she could directly enter Nova's chamber. "Lead the Gryphons and besiege the Black Morass." to which Kurdran replied : "Ach' okay!" and he left with his mount.

She stormed into Nova's chamber and found him waiting for her. "This ends now Nova!" she remarked as she charged towards him.

Nova dodged this attack : "Oh, it has only begun. You do remember how you died the last time do you?"

"Not gonna happen !" and she flung her sword which struck the cyborg warrior that was coming for her.

In the meantime, the wizard snuck into the reactor core. Having found the secret passageway that led him, to the mystic Eye of Dalaran, he broke through the forcefield using his magic and then, took that relic with him.

Nova desperately tried to activate the traps in his chamber to kill Alita but to his horror, there was a power outage. The defenses, cyborg warriors and in short all of Zalem lost power instantly!

Alita : "Who's laughing now?"

Nova : "I am!" and he decided to pull out the last trick he had under his sleeve. The runestone on his forehead and his eyes glittered in the shades of Fel Magic as he channeled it through his hands. Soon, he had Alita in his grasp. He was telekinetically playing with her and she couldn't even move a muscle.

Nova prepared to rip Alita apart but the wizard stormed into his chamber in the nick of time. "_Exorcium!_" he chanted, sending a brilliant flash of light that sent Nova flying. He grabbed Alita who was still, reeling from the intense pain that she was going through.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine but oh my ... " and they looked at the flash of green light that encased the Technocrat. The wizard gasped in horror as he saw not one but two shadows on the ground. One was of Nova's and the other, of the demon he had feared the most.

"It can't be ... " he mumbled "Sargeras! But how?"

Nova : "For millenia, I have been waiting for the moment when I could avenge my death at your ancestor's hands. After breaking free from the Twisting Nether, I took the form of this maniac, and now, you've simply brought it to me."

Alita : "What do you want ?"

Nova : "Tell the wizard to surrender the artifact that is in his possession or you will forfeit your life." and he used his telekinetic abilities to torture Alita and the wizard.

That's when the wizard countered him with a volley of fireballs. Having driven Nova out of focus, he lunged at him and stabbed him with his glaive as he began to morph into his demonic alter-ego. Just then, Alita chopped off Nova's head and his body fell down with a thud. His half-demonic head withered as it fell to the ground and the wizard removed the glaive that was soaked deeply in a horrendous concoction of blood and Fel venom.

Even as his head withered, it spoke a few words : "You may have killed my pawn but you have all been my pawns in my conquest!" and the spirit of Sargeras departed from their presence after leaving Nova's head, only to be trapped in the Twistingdid Nether for another millenium. "Not again!" he screeched as his spirit faded away.

Alita : "Well, that's something." and she turned to see the wizard with a horror-stricken look on his face.

**Orc POV** :

Nova's death freed Teron and his company of Death Knights who instantly conjured spells to decay the cyborg warriors that had held them captive. They stormed into Nova's chamber to see Alita and Immanuel beside the body of the slain Technocrat.

Teron conjured a spell that darkened the wizard's senses. He stood there, pale with fright and terror, struggling to breathe as he tried to fight back the darkness that was holding him back.

Alita tried to help him out but the Death Knights conjured the same spell on her too!

"Do you feel the Touch of Darkness?" remarked Teron "My master will be pleased knowing that I was able to kill the leader of the Alliance. But no matter, I won't, this collapsing city will!" and the ground beneath them began to shake all of a sudden.

"You can't win! Not as long as the ..." the wizard tried to fight back but he was cut short by Teron : "Light burns in your heart? Or does it really burn in you? Tell me do you really believe in the Light?"

The wizard had his own insecurities. Having lost his commander and his girlfriend in a battle with the Bleeding Hollow Clan that had raided their settlements, he was in a tough position. Even as he rose to lead the remnants of the Alliance, he was still insecure about himself and his worth.

"Now, we don't have to talk about it right? I'll walk away with the relic that you've fished out for me and we'll be on our way." and he escaped with the Eye of Dalaran in his possession.

Just then, the ground beneath them shook once again, breaking them up from the enchantments they were under. "So we're all under threat due to magic even you yourself can't be protected from" Alita remarked, "What kind of an insecurity was that?"

"A kind which troubles me deeply. Am I the only one with insecurities? What about Hugo?"

At this point Alita was about to break down, as she remembered Hugo's unfortunate demise years ago. Just then Ido spoke through their comm links : "Guys you gotta get outta here! Zalem's gonna collapse without a source of power!"

The wizard gathered up his strength "Come on, we need to fetch the Eye and bring it back to Zalem."

They ran in full speed and pursued the company of Death Knights until they reached the edge of the floating city which was rumbling. Alita realised that something was actually damaging the tubes that were supporting the city and without the Eye, those supports would weaken and eventually get destroyed!

The ground beneath them rumbled violently. There was a brief period of silence as Teron and his company of Death Knights faced Alita and the wizard. Just then, they heard a mechanical whirring noise, as though some large wings were flapping. Seconds later a cybernetic creature of horrifying proportions showed up as it breathed fire from its mouth. It was covered in thick armour and demonic runes.

Alita gasped as they looked at this dragon."Deathwing !" mumbled the wizard and he conjured a blizzard using his glaive but Deathwing fried it up with his intense firepower! He spewed huge volumes of lava on the wizard who had conjured a spell to shield Alita and himself.

Teron and his company of Death Knights fled on Deathwing's back. They watched as the city's supporting tubes were getting decimated by the dragons that Deathwing had summoned. "Gorefiend !" cried out the wizard as they braced themselves to face the end!


End file.
